Equipping Our Kids to Guard Their Hearts

Last night, one of our daughters asked if she could download a song called, “Best Song Ever” by One Direction. I told her my usual, “I’ll need to check out the lyrics first & get back with you.” Knowing the song was popular & most moms would think, “What’s the harm?! It’s just a boy band popular with teens!” - but we're trying to teach our girls that when we fill our minds with “junk”, junk comes out eventually.

I’m currently reading “Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman’s Battle” and was reminded about these thoughts on the subject... "By limiting your daughter’s exposure to sexual messages in the media and providing some great alternative music and magazines, you’ll help her guard her mind. If she can learn to guard her mind during these formative years, she’ll have the skills to successfully guard her heart and body in the bigger battles she’ll face down the road.”

So, after looking up the lyrics, I knew right away it was not a good, positive message I wanted my girls to hear and I do believe there is harm in these negative messages sneaking their way into our girl’s lives. For example...

“Said her name was Georgia Rose (wow), and her daddy was a dentist. Said I had a dirty mouth (I got a dirty mouth) but she kissed me like she meant it.”

Most moms would probably say I’m just being paranoid or prude – but come on! What are songs that talk about “dancing all night” and “kissing like she meant it” teaching our kids? I went on to read lyrics for more of their songs just because I knew they were popular & wanted to know more about what their songs were about. Most everything portrayed girl/boy relationships in an unhealthy, ungodly way and I just wasn't impressed.

 So today we'll have a little chat & I'll tell her what I found. Even though my answer is, "No - I don't think we should download this song," I want her to come to that conclusion on her own. We'll look over the lyrics together & discuss the message it sends vs. what the Bible says we should think about. There are so many other great alternatives out there - like Britt Nicole, 1 Girl Nation, Colton Dixon, Beckah Shae, Mandisa, Hawk Nelson, etc.  I'm pretty sure this will be a good lesson in returning to what we know to be good music with a positive message. And I will continue to pray daily that our kids will learn discernment and make wise choices that they can be proud of and won't regret later.